Kinematic programming for rain

July 1966: The mathematician Mervyn Stone published an article in the journal Nature that analyzed "the optimal speed and posture to adopt when caught without protection in a rain shower."

The article itself is mostly gobbledygook to me, but apparently he concluded that if the rain is coming from behind you then "walk forward leaning backwards." While if you're walking into the rain then "lower the head and walk as fast as possible."

Reference: "Kinematic Programming for Rain," Nature - July 23, 1966

The Branford Expositor - Sep 19, 1966

Click to enlarge as PDF

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 16, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Science, 1960s, Weather

“Dispatch from Solitude #1: Walking the Unknown Path”

The artist's homepage.

Social Distancing & Art Episode 3 from Ogden Contemporary Arts on Vimeo.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 16, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Furniture, Hunting, Trapping and Other Wilderness Activities, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Avant Garde, Performance Art

Heraldry of Fish

All that you'd ever want to know about fish, as they pertain to heraldry.

Available to read via archive.org.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 15, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Signage, Fish, Books, Nineteenth Century

Follies of the Madmen #605

Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 15, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, Cereal, Infantilism, 1960s

The Spider That Waged A Battle Against A Clock

I wrote this article about eight years ago for a site that has now gone dark. So I'm reposting it here.

The Internet has made many animals famous, such as Grumpy Cat, Darwin the Ikea Monkey, and Sockington the Twitter Cat. But as this brief list suggests, Internet-famous animals tend to be either pets or species that biologists describe as "charismatic" — meaning ones that people can easily identify with. Insects don't get much love.

This hasn't always been the case. If we look back to 1932, we find an example of a spider that achieved overnight celebrity status, with the media producing daily reports of its adventures. It's the curious case of the "spider in a clock."

The spider's rise to fame began on the morning of November 20, 1932 at 552 Parker Ave in Barberton, Ohio (a suburb of Akron). Louise Thompson rolled over in bed, turned off her alarm clock, and then noticed a "tiny black dot" moving across the face of the timepiece.

Closer examination by her husband, Cyril, revealed that the dot was a small spider. It had somehow gotten into the space between the face of the clock and the glass, and it was attempting to spin a web between the minute and hour hands. It succeeded in briefly attaching a fine thread of gossamer between the two hands, but as the minute hand slowly advanced the thread broke. No matter. The spider climbed up the face of the clock and began its effort all over again, only to have the thread broken for a second time. The couple watched as the spider continued to repeat this cycle over and over.

The next morning the spider was still there, still trying to build its ill-fated web. And it remained there the day after, and the day after that.

The Thompsons shared the story of the clock-battling spider with their neighbors, and soon people started dropping by to see it. Eventually, someone contacted the media.

By the time a reporter first saw the spider — around December 7, 1932 — the insect had grown to the size of an ordinary house spider, and the hands of the clock were covered with fine threads.

How had the spider managed to grow without any obvious source of food? And how had it gotten into the clock in the first place? These were the mysteries that the spider presented.

The reporter interviewed the Thompson's two children. Young tommy thought the spider was boring, but his sister, Mary Louise, was fascinated by it, admiring the way it kept at its task despite constant defeat. She said, "He must be awfully brave."

Wilkes Barre Times Leader - Dec 10, 1932

Evidently much of the American public agreed with Mary Louise, because after the first story about the spider (distributed by the Associated Press) appeared in papers, interest in the arachnid swelled. The media responded by providing daily details of its adventures.


More in extended >>

Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 14, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Insects and Spiders, 1930s

Rowland Emett’s “Lunar Cycle”

Watch the video below the screenshot.

His Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 14, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Humor, Inventions, Rube Goldberg Devices, Cartoons, Space Travel, 1970s

First Alaskan Pipeline Oil

I wonder if anyone still has one of these sitting on their desk. I didn't find any for sale on eBay.

Los Angeles Times - June 1, 1978

About a year later it was selling for less than half its original price. Mustn't have been a lot of demand for it.

Salem Capital Journal - Oct 16, 1979

Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 13, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Kitsch and Collectibles, 1970s

The Swamp in June

Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 13, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Boredom, Nature, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s

Opal Dixon, the mouthwash bank robber

Mrs. Opal Dixon decided to start robbing banks because she was "tired of living without having money."

Her method was unusual. She would fill a syringe with mouthwash, enter a bank, and then brandish the syringe over her head while shouting that it was full of nitroglycerine and she would blow the place up if the teller didn't give her money.

She got away with this once and would have succeeded a second time if the police hadn't identified her later while she was walking down the street.

Decatur Herald and Review - Jan 23, 1947

Des Moines Register - Jan 23, 1947

Mansfield News Journal - Jan 23, 1947

Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 12, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Crime, 1940s, Women

The Fantasy Circus League

We've all heard of Fantasy Football, where the amateur player gets to run a team. But how can that compare to the activities of the Circus Model Builders, where you get to run a circus?

Here's their homepage. In short, you pick an extinct circus and recreate it as a model.




Here's a great article about one young lad who earned a lifetime circus pass by doing so. You can go to the source if you want to increase the typesize for readability.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 12, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, 1940s, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows